by Randy Place
Because Answers towhat are your weaknesses question has elicited strong comments from readers of Your Career Service, let’s explore comments received this past week. It can help clarify and add new ideas for handling questions related to work weaknesses.
A comment from “anonymous” disagreed with the approach given in my post about how to handle the weaknesses question –
“Ridiculous. Completely off base. I had a job interview this morning, and they asked me this very question. The guy came right out and said, “We all have weaknesses, and if someone couldn’t provide me with even ONE, I would have to assume he/she was the only perfect person on earth.” In other words, provide SOMETHING – rehearse it in advance obviously – and be ready with it. Clearly you wouldn’t want to say, “I cannot seem to show up to work on time, and I have major attendance issues.” But you could say, “Sometimes it’s hard to prioritize when there are so many deadlines and problems that come up, and I occasionally need to lean on my manager for guidance with prioritization.”
I cautioned Mr or Mrs anonymous that, “When you call my comment ridiculous and completely off base, you do a disservice to thousands of my job hunting clients who have used this technique and satisfied interviewers with their answer. That’s testimony enough that it works and certainly not off base.
An interviewer, listening to Anonymous’s answer about how it’s sometimes hard for him to prioritize and therefore needs to lean on his manager, might very well relicit a response like this –
”Our managers are busy, don’t have time to help you with the simple act of prioritizing, and I need to hire people on my staff who already have no difficulty prioritizing work.”
Anonymous could make his answer more exquisitely by calling what he considers a weakness in prioritizing, “an area I’ve targeted for improvement,. Then he can tell the interviewer what steps he’s taken to correct it.
This week’s second post agreed with my strategy. Raeshma said…
“I agree with you Randy. The only suggestion I have is to NOT make the interviewer ask the same question several times. I would suggest saying it once…and then giving a more specific answer the second time if the interviewer asks for it.”
Good point, Raeshma. When you use Raeshma’s approach of giving a more specific answer if the interviewer presses, you might pull out your annual review, if it’s a positive one, and discuss an area your supervisor said needed work and tell exactly what you did to improve it.
You can also discuss a skill you absolutely don’t need for the job you’re interviewing for, and call it “an area I’ve targeted for improvement.” Then tell what you did to improve or correct the situation as explained in this related posted on Your Career Service.
So keep your comments coming. Whether or not you agree or disagree with job search tactics I write about, your comments elicit helpful suggestions from both Your Career Service and its readers.
When it comes to handling the question about weaknesses, remember this: When you give the interviewer a true weakness because you believe the prospective employer would appreciate hearing about one, you’ve also given her a true reason for not hiring you.